Rotary drum apparatus for the processing of articles



S Sheets-Sheet 1 F. H. FERRAH ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR lTHE! PROCESSINGOF' ARTICLES June 25, 1963 l Filed `June 4, 1959 F. H. FERRAH June- 25,1963 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESSING OF ARTICLES Filed June 4,1959 3 Sheets-Shea?I 2 Il." I

F. H. FERRAH June 25, -1963 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESSING OEARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet .3

Filed June 4,- 1959 ulm;

United States Patent O 3,094,860 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESS-ING DF ARTICLES Frederick Hamilton Ferrah, Sunderland, England, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Baker Perkins Limited,

Peterborough, England Filed June 4, 1959, Ser. No. 818,209 4 Claims.(Cl. 68-210) This invention provides apparatus for the processing ofarticles, particularly for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing,comprising a drum mounted for rotation, on a substantially horizontalaxis, one end .of the drum being formed by an open frusto-conicalportion, and y the interior of at least the frusto-conical portion ofthe drum being provided with a plurality of thin, plate-like or laminarhelicoidal vanes or ribs set at a suitable pitch and so ldirected that,upon reversal of the direction of rotation of the drum from that inwhich it normally rotates during the processing of articles therein, thevanes or ribs displace the articles towards and through the openfrusto-conical end yof the drum.

The vanes may be so formed that any transverse section is in a radialplane of the Adrum or is inclined to such plane so that the free edgesof the vanes trail with respect to the fixed edges when the ldrum is inreverse rotation, and they may if desired be extended at least partlyalong the interior surface of a cylindrical portion forming the said oneend of the drum. Assuming that the drum is intended to be rotatablenormally in the clockwise direction as seen from its frustoconical end,the pitch of the blades is left-handed, so that they tend to displacearticles of clothing that are tumbling within the drum towands the baseof the drum during said normal rotation and towards the opening when therotation is reversed.

The cylindrical portion of the .drum may further have in' its peripheralwall a multiplicity of small apertures, and means for blowing airinwardly through said apertures from a fixed surrounding casing, after asolvent used for cleaning the clothes has been evacuated into and fromsaid casing, and the direction of rotation has been reversed. Such air,in addition to loosening the folds lof the clothing from one another andfrom the vanes, has the effect of assisting the displacement of theclothing towards the `open end.

'Ilhe invention further provides apparatus for the processing ofarticles, particularly for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing,comprising a drum as aforesaid, enclosed within a casing whichpreferably has a substantially coaxial frusto-conical end, means forsupplying solvent or other processing liquid into the drum, means Vfordischarging the liquid from the casing after passage of the liquidthrough the apertures in the drum into the casing, and means for passingair or other carrier ,gas into the casing and extracting said air orgas, after passage thereof through the apertures into the drum, from theopen :truste-conical end of the drum. Said means for passing air maycomprise a `fan in a closed ducting circuit.

Apparatus for processing articles as aforesaid may have disposedcoaxially with the drum a tumbler barrel preferably provided withinternal vanes and having two circular .openings in its transverse ends,one of said apertures being adjacent the open frusto-conical end of thedrum with an intervening laterally displaceable damper. There may Ibe amultiplicity of small apertures in the peripheral wall of the tumblerbarrel, and a casing surrounding said barrel, which casing forms part ofsaid closed circuit for air. Y

The foregoing and other features of the invention will be betterunderstood from the following description, by

way of example, of an apparatus for the .dry cleaning of `secured to thehimno-conical portion 12.

Vshaft 31 extends and supporting bearings 6 3,094,860 Patented June 25,1963 clothing, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a drum for treatment ofthe articles with solvent, and associated parts.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation, in the direction of arrow II of FIG. 1, withone half of an end cover removed, and

FIG. 3 is a vertical diametrical section of a drying barrel andassociated parts.

In the apparatus as a whole, the two assemblies shown in FIGS. l and 3are jointed together as will be described so that a drum 1 of FIG. l anda barrel 2 of FIG. 3 are coaxially disposed.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. l, the drum 1 comprises acylindrical portion 11 and a truste-conical portion 12. The cylindricalwall 13 of the portion 11 has a multiplicity of perforations 14 suitablydistributed and is supported at one of its ends by an annular, flat,transverse base ring 15 which in turn is secured coaxially to a hollowtrunnion 16 by which the drum 1 is supported for rotation. 'Ihe trunnion16 has an annular track 17 which is engaged Iby the peripheral surfacesof a set of three freely rotatable wheels 18 mounted on horizontalspindles 19, two of the wheels 18 being disposed below the trunnion 16for supporting its weight and the Weight of the drum 1 (and its contentswhen in use) and the third wheel being located above the trunnion. Theengagement of the wheels 18 in the track 17 also serves to constrain thetrunnion and the drum against axial movement. Further, the outer part ofthe trunnion 16 has a cylindrical surface 20 which is engaged by theperipheral surfaces of another set of three freely rotatable wheels 21mounted on spindles 22, two of the wheels 21 being :disposed above theaxis of the trunnion 16 to oppose the weight of the drum 1 (and itscontents when in use) under the cantilever effect of the trunnionbearing upon the lower pair of the wheels 18.

'Ilhe spindles 19 and 22 are mounted in bushes 23 vertical end walls 24and 25 of a drive housing 2-6. In FIG. 2 half of the outer end wall 25is .omitted to show the 1disposition of the supporting wheels 18 and 21.Between the tvvo sets of wheels 18 and 21 there is secured to a iiange27 on the trunnion 16 an annular chain ring 28 driven by a chain 29l(FIG. 2) from a pinion 30 secured to a drive shaft 31 which is rotatablethrough a coupling 32 and a variable speed gear box 33 by a reversibleelectrical motor (not shown).

According to a feature of the invention, the drum 1 is provided with aseries of `helical vanes 34 which extend from the base ring 15 to theopen discharge end of the One of these vanes vis shown in FIG. l but itwill be understood that the drum may have any suitable number of suchvanes, for example, two or three or more, equiangularly distributedabout its interior. Each of the vanes 34 has a small depth relation tothe radius of the drum, with a smooth or rounded free inner edge 36 anda round end 37 at the opening 3S, so as to avoid damage to articles ofclothing tumbled within the rotating drum. The vane 34 is so arrangedthat any transverse section is in a radial plane, as can be seen at thepoint 38 where the vane is shown ,edge-on. The inner end 39 is securedto the base ring 15.

The `drum 1 is enclosed within a casing 3 which is supported upon asolvent storage tank 4 by the inner end wall 24 of the drive housing 26and by a bracket 5, the parts 5 and 24 having apertures through whichthe drive for said shaft. The casing 3 has cylindrical andtruste-conical parts 7 and 3 which respectively surround thecorresponding parts 11 and 12 of the drum 1.' The open smaller end 9 oflthe conical part 8 is secured to a member 10 which serves in part tosecure `the casing 3 to the casing of a drying tumbler barrel as willhereinafter be described and in part as a support for a solventcondenser 40 which is also partly supported on the top of the casing 3;said condenser performs no function in the cleaning and drying ofclothing as will be described, being used for the regeneration ofsolvent in conjunction Awith a solvent evaporator 58 upon which thetumbler barrel casing is supported.

A solvent supply piper 41 is disposed to feed solvent into the open end35 of the drum 1, the solvent being supplied, through a pump (not shown)from the tank 4. The casing 3 has at its lower part a solvent receivingchamber 42 which is connected through a valve 43 (FIG. 2) and a returnpipe 44 with the tank 4, so that solvent issuing through theperforations 1'4 in the portion 11 of the drum is returned to the tank4, and filtered, and a constant circulation of solvent through thearticles of clothing-under treatment in the drum 1 can be maintained.

The tumbler barrel 2 (FIG. 3) is enclosed within a casing 57 supportedupon said solvent evaporator 58. The evaporator is connected by a member60 with a tank `61, for another processing liquid, which is united withthe solvent tank 4. The tank 61 may for example serve to contain aliquid for lthe reproofng of waterproof clothing after cleaning thereofwith solvent from the tank 4. The casing 57 is also attached to the.support member of the conical portion 8 of the drum casing 3. At thecenter of the casing 57 is an annular ring 63 which registers with theouter end of a bell member 64 secured about the opening 9 in the member10 of the drum 1, and between the radially extending anges of -themember 63 of the 4barrel 2 and member 64 of the ydrum 1 is mounted aframe for a circular damper 65 associated with the drum 1 (but shown insitu in both FIGS. l and 2) which is displaceable from the position inwhich it lcuts off communication between the drum 1 and the bar- `rel 2to an open position.

The casing 57 of the barrel 2 has, as shown in FIG. 3, au upwardextension 67 in which is located an air cooler 68. An air blower 72driven by an electric motor 73 is mounted on the top-of the casing 57,its discharge branch 75 being connected into the upward extension 67.

Extending from the side of the upwardly extending box 67 is an air duct78 which communicates with a tangential inlet 79 to the casing 3 of thedrum 1. Adjacent the connection 80 of said duct to the box 67 there isprovided a damper 81 which is automatically operable by electrical relaymeans associated in known vmanner with controlrmeans (not shown) fordetermining the drum driving motor direction.

-In the Loperation of the apparatus as above described, a quantity -ofarticles of clothing to be dry cleaned are fed into the cylindricalportion 11 of the drum 1 through 'the hollowtrunnion 16, the outer end82 of which may thereafter be closed by a suitable cover indicated at100. The drum llis then set in motion in the clockwise direction as seenfrom the open end of its conical portion `1'2. (arrow A) so that thehelical vanes 34 serve to displace the articles of clothing into theperforated portion 11 of the drum or maintain the articles in saidportion While they are being tumbled therein. At the same time solventis fed into the drum 1 through the pipe 41 from the tank 4 and, thevalve `43 being open, returns to the tank 4, is ltered and thenrecirculated. Eventually, the circulation of solvent is discontinued,and the ydrum is rotated at a higher speed for solvent extraction.

On completion of the cleaning operation, the damper '65 (sh-ownduplicated -in FIGS. 1 and 3) is opened and the dr-um drivingmotorreversed to drive the drum 1 in the anti-clockwise direction, the damper81 being simultaneously opened. Under the reverse rotation of the drumthe vanes 34 serve to displace the articles of clothing therein throughthe opening 35 into the tumbler barrel 2. and at the same time theblower motor 73 is energised to cause an air circulation, by virtue ofthe automatic opening of the damper 81, from the blower 72 through thebox 67, air cooler 68, air lduct 78 to the inlet 79 of the casing 3, andthen through the perforations 14 in the wall 13 `to the interior of thedrum 1 and out through the opening 35 to Athe tumbler barrel 2, throughthe perforations 46 in the Wall 45 thereof, and then through the casing57 to the inlet 74 of the blower. This air circulation assists thedisplacement of the articles of clothing from the drum 1 into the barrel2, its action, together with 4that of lthe vanes 34, serving to preventthe articles from becoming tangled into a rnass.

After completion of the transfer of the clothing from the drum 1 intothe barrel 2, the damper 65 is movable to its closed position, whereuponthe ydirection of the drum driving motor is returned to normal, and thedamper 811 is also closed. A further quantity of clothing can then befed into the drum 1 and treated as above described. At the same time,the tumbler barrel 2 is independently rotatable for elfecting nalextraction of solvent from the clothing therein and drying of thisclothing. As soon as the drying operation has been completed, the driedclothing can be removed from the barrel 2 by way of an opening 101 onthe `side remote from the drum 1, a suitable cover indicated at 102serving to close the opening 101 during the drying operation. After theremoval of the clothing from the barrel the further batch which has beenunder treatment in the drum 1 can then be displaced from said drum intothe bar-rel 2 as above described so that la continuous two stagetreatment of cleaning and drying may be carried out. This has theevident advantage that in a single machine cleaning and solventextraction of one batch and drying of another batch may be effectedsimultaneously, but independently.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing comprising, incombina-tion, a drum mounted for reversible rotation on a lfixed,substantially horizontal axis and supported by a single end, said drumhaving a cylindrical portion with Ia transverse annular wall at one endthereof and a hollow trunnion which serves for the entry into the drumof articles to be cleaned therein and is externally engaged Vby rotarysupporting means and driving means for the drum, the -other end of thedrum having a conjoint open-ended lfrusto-conical portion, the interiorof at least said frusto-conical portion being provided with a pluarlityof helicoidal laminar vanes set at a suitable pitch and so directedthat, upon reversal of the direction of rotation of the drum from thatin which it normally rotates during the cleaning articles of clothingtherein, the vanes ydisplace `said articles towards and .through the.open end of said Afrustoconical portion.

2. Apparatus for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing comprising, incombination, a drum mounted tor reversible rotation on -a fixed,substantially horizontal axis and supported by a single end, said drumhaving a cylindrical portion with ,a transverse annular wall at one endthereof and a hollow, externally cylindrical trunnion which serves forthe entry into the .drum of articles to be cleaned therein, saidtrunnion being externally engaged by two longitudinally spaced sets ofat least three freely rotatable supporting rollers and by driving meansfor the drum, the other end of the drum having a conjoint -open-endedltruste-conical portion, the interior of at least said frusto-conicalportion being provided with a plurality of helicoidal laminar vanes setat a suitable pitch and so directed that, upon reversal Iof thedirection of rotation of the `drunr from that in which it normallyrotates during the cleaning of articles of clothing therein, the vanesdisplace said articles towards and through the open end of saidfrusto-conical portion.

3. Apparatus for the processing of textile articles, particularly forthe ydry cleaning of articles of clothing, cornprising a drum mountedfor reversible rotation on a substantially horizontal taxis, one end ofsaid drum being formed by an open-ended frusto-conical portion, theother end of said drum being cylindrical, and the interior of at leastsaid frusto-conical portion being provided with a plurality ofhelicoidal vanes set at a suitable pitch and so directed that, uponreversal of .the direction of rotation of the drum from that in which itnormally rotates during the processing of articles therein, the vanesdisplace the articles towards and through -the open frusto-conical endof lthe drum, said cylindrical end being mounted `on a hollow trunnionwhich serves for the entry into the drum `of articles to be processedtherein, the drum having in the peripheral Iwall of its cylindricalportion a multiplicity of small apertures, and a casing enclosing saiddrum, in combination with a perforated tumbler bar-rel disposedcoaxially with the drum, said barrel having two circular openings in itstransverse ends, one of said end openings being adjacent the openlfrusto-conical end of the drum, a laterally displaceable damperinterposed between said adjacent ends, and a casing surrounding saidbarrel, said rapparatus incorporating means -f-or supplying a processingliquid into the drum, means for discharging the liquid from the drumcasing after passage of the liquid through the apertures in the druminto the drum casing, and means for passing a carrier gas into the drumReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,057,526 Horton Oct. 13, 1936 2,075,010 Angelus et al. Mar. 30, 19372,171,409 Smith Aug. 29, 1939 2,255,028 Long Sept. 2, 1941 2,573,103Kling Oct. 30, 1951 2,842,002 Stegman July 8, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS76,725 Germany Aug. 9, 1894 467,594 Great Britain June 21, 1937

1. APPARATUS FOR THE DRY CLEANING OF ARTICLES OF CLOTHING COMPRISING, INCOMBINATION, A DRUM MOUNTED FOR REVERSIBLE ROTATION ON A FIXED,SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS AND SUPPORTED BY A SINGLE END, SAID DRUMHAVING A CYLINDRICAL PORTION WITH A TRANSVERSE ANNULAR WALL AT ONE ENDTHEREOF AND A HOLLOW TRUNNION WHICH SERVES FOR THE ENTRY INTO THE DRUMOF ARTICLES TO BE CLEANED THEREIN AND IS EXTERNALLY ENGAGED BY ROTARYSUPPORTING MEANS AND DRIVING MEANS FOR THE DRUM, THE OTHER END OF THEDRUM HAVING A CONJOINT OPEN-ENDED FRUSTO-CONICAL PORTION, THE INTERIOROF AT LEAST SAID FRUSTO-CONICAL PORTION BEING PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITYOF HELICOIDAL LAMINAR VANES SET AT A SUITABLE PITCH AND SO DIRECTEDTHAT, UPON REVERSAL OF THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF THE DRUM FROM THATIN WHICH IT NORMALLY ROTATES DURING THE CLEANING ARTICLES OF CLOTHINGTHEREIN, THE VANES DISPLACE SAID ARTICLES TOWARDS AND THROUGH THE OPENEND OF SAID FRUSTOCONICAL PORTION.